The ‘bezel-less’ iPhone 8 is going to be unveiled in under two weeks, and will be the first iPhone not to feature a physical home button. A report from Bloomberg provides fresh details on how Apple plans to replace the button with new gestures and navigational elements for the iPhone 8 user interface.

At the bottom of the screen, the display will show a ‘thin bar’ where a physical button normally resides. On the lock screen, users pull this bar upwards to unlock the phone — reminiscent of the iconic ‘slide to unlock’ action that Apple removed in iOS 10. Inside an app, dragging upwards opens a redesigned multitasking UI. It sounds a lot like the new multitasking gestures for iPad we’ve seen in iOS 11 …

The big takeaway here is that Apple is pushing towards new gestures and interactions, rather than simply recreating a home button virtually and keeping the same behaviors. The iPhone 8 will mark a notable breakpoint in the company’s phone design and user interface. Read the full article over at Bloomberg.

Amazon today has announced a new feature that allows users to play, synchronize, and control music playback across multiple Echo devices with support for voice commands. The news comes ahead of Apple’s HomePod launch in December and Sonos likely unveiling a new smart speaker in October. Amazon has also announced new tools for developers.

AirPods In a press release, Amazon detailed its new multi-room audio playback feature for Echo devices with a variety of music services supported and more coming soon:

You can now synchronize your music playback across Echo devices to play songs from Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Pandora, with support for Spotify and SiriusXM coming soon. Simply use the Alexa App to create groups with two or more Echo devices by naming the group, such as “downstairs.” Once you’ve created the group, simply say “Alexa, play John Mayer downstairs.”

You just drag files into The Shelf, and leave them there until you need them. You can also copy items to the clipboard, switch to The Shelf, and hit Paste to paste them into the app — useful if you’re using the iPad with an external keyboard.

Could be a very useful app that expands on the drag and drop functionality coming in iOS 11.

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) may have been sold to users on the basis of faster-loading webpages, but the company’s underlying motivation is to lock publishers into Google’s ad network. For users, it makes it harder to see which site you’re being taken to, and trickier to share links to specific pages.

Apple is now addressing the second issue in iOS 11 by having Safari convert AMP links back into the original URLs when shared …

Surprise, surprise; the rumors were true. Samsung will compete with Apple’s hottest new gadget.

In a new interview following the launch of the Galaxy Note 8 on Tuesday, Samsung mobile president DJ Koh confirmed the company is developing a smart speaker that will take on HomePod and Amazon Alexa. He also hinted that it will be announced “soon.”

Sources familiar with Samsung’s plans told The Wall Street Journal back in July that the South Korean company was interested in competing with HomePod and similar devices. It was said to be developing a device codenamed “Vega” that would have its Bixby assistant built-in.

Samsung quickly denied this rumor, with an unnamed executive telling The Korea Herald that it had no interest in such a device, with the market already dominated by Amazon’s Alexa devices. Now we know those claims were false.

Speaking to CNBC following the launch of the Note 8, Koh said he is “already working on” a smart speaker, and “maybe soon we will announce it.” He wants to ensure the device will “provide a fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices.”

“I want to be moving quite heavily on it,” he added, suggesting the device is an important part of Samsung’s future product lineup.

I would be disappointed if Samsung didn’t bring out their own version of HomePod!

Apple doesn’t sell any accessories for Apple Watch other than bands and chargers, but AirPods are the closest thing. Small, light, and fully wireless, they’re the perfect companion to Apple Watch, and I suspect an LTE watch would kick off a new marketing campaign selling the two as a pair.

What’s most interesting about that scenario is that an iPhone isn’t even necessary. With an LTE watch and Siri-powered Bluetooth earbuds, you could stream Apple Music, make phones calls, send messages, and get news and scores without needing a phone. And that could open up Apple Watch to Android users, too. After all, the iPod didn’t really take off until Apple let Windows users get in on the fun, and I can tell you from experience that the Android Wear options leave much to be desired. With an on-watch App Store, all Apple would really need is a Watch app in the Play Store.

But even without Android support, the Series 3 Apple Watch is shaping up to be a monumental release. LTE opens up Apple’s wearable to a new world of possibilities, and it could shift the balance between it and the iPhone. We wouldn’t even have to worry about remembering to bring our phone everywhere we go as long as we had an Apple Watch strapped to our wrist.

I can certainly see a near future where AirPods + Apple Watch are the perfect mobile setup. You still have an iPhone, but it’s no longer essential that it needs to be with you all the time.

Google Home can now stream music from free Spotify accounts, as spotted by Android Police. Google promised to make its Home speaker compatible with more music and video streaming services back at I/O in May, with a list included Deezer, SoundCloud, HBO Now, and Hulu; Home already supports premium Spotify accounts.

With Home, you can ask the device to play a particular song, artist, or album, and with a free-account, requesting these will start a station of songs inspired by the item you choose. If you request a playlist, the music will start playing in shuffle mode. You’re also able to ask for music to be played based on genre, mood, or activity, or for Spotify-curated playlists on a free account, Google says.

If you want to set up your free Spotify account with Home, open the Google Home app, and tap “music.” To choose your default service, tap the radio icon next to the service you want. Spotify needs to be linked, so to connect your account, tap on “link,” and sign into your Spotify account.

Until HomePod comes out from Apple, voice-activated music playing using Spotify and Google Home and/or Amazon Echo the best, fantastic, living-in-the-future service.